November 24, 2016

One out of every five children in British Columbia lives in poverty, according to an annual report card that First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition released Tuesday.

Using the most recent available figures from Statistics Canada, the coalition found the 19.8 per cent child poverty rate in B.C. in 2014 was only slightly lower than the 20.4 per cent rate a year earlier, and remains higher than the Canadian average of 18.5 per cent.

“A lot of people are just holding on,” said Adrienne Montani, the provincial coordinator for First Call.